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Bookshelf: Do You Matter? How Great Design Will Make People Love Your Company

Sept. 12, 2008
By Robert Brunner and Stewart Emery, FT Press, 2008, 256 pages, $24.99

"If you ceased to exist tomorrow, do you think anyone would really care?" In other words, "has your product, service, or brand established an emotional connection with your customers to the extent that they are invested in the interest that you not only survive, but also prosper?"

These are the questions asked by authors Robert Brunner and Stewart Emery. Their point, and one they repeat throughout Do You Matter?, is that great product design is about more than simply a product's appearance. Indeed, they write, "It is about a broader experience that includes nearly everything about you, your products and services that your customer comes in contact with. We call this the customer experience supply chain."

Thriving design-driven companies have built their long-term success by developing products that are about ideas and not simply products, the authors assert. They use examples such as Apple, BMW and IKEA to demonstrate and expand upon their key point. Equally important, they provide examples and case studies of companies that have been less than successful in their efforts to gain lasting success through product design.

Also making this a book worth reading are the authors' credentials. Brunner is former director of industrial design at Apple Computer and founder and CEO of product design and brand consulting firm Ammunition. Emery co-wrote the book Success Built to Last.

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About the Author

Jill Jusko

Bio: Jill Jusko is executive editor for IndustryWeek. She has been writing about manufacturing operations leadership for more than 20 years. Her coverage spotlights companies that are in pursuit of world-class results in quality, productivity, cost and other benchmarks by implementing the latest continuous improvement and lean/Six-Sigma strategies. Jill also coordinates IndustryWeek’s Best Plants Awards Program, which annually salutes the leading manufacturing facilities in North America. 

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